Chapter 83: Bizarreness

Translator: Letty Editor: DarkGem

“You are right, I am, indeed, conducting a food experiment. After all, I can’t always rely on someone else.”

“Cool.” The smile on Zhuo’s face didn’t change even a bit. “But you don’t have to rush as the Crystal Pea is sufficient enough for everyone. I just want to apologize for what I’ve said a few days ago; I was too worried about this. But by any chance, would you be interested in joining our research in group Alpha?” Zhuo hazarded again.

“I...” Qing Shui was going to decline his offer again, but he was interrupted before being able to speak the words.

“Again, I understand that you might have no interest in working with us. But I figured that it is necessary to show you what we have achieved before you make any decision as you have no knowledge of what we are researching yet. I am confident that even if it’s you, you won’t be able to turn away from this great temptation. Qing Shui, we are the same kind of people, even though you might deny that.”

“What have you done?” Qing Shui’s eyes lingered on Zhuo’s mysterious smile. He was intrigued.

“Would you come with me later? Words are not persuasive enough for you, so I’d show you my great work on transgene.” Zhuo gazed at Qing Shui’s eyes as if he was trying to look into his very soul.

“Of course,” Qing Shui agreed with a tilt of his head.

“Like I said, you are different from those ignorant yet arrogant ‘scientists’.” Zhuo was happy with Qing Shui’s answer and stood up once a bright ray of light descended on him. “I’m going to get the medal that they are awarding me with, see you at the front door.”

Qing Shui didn’t reply to the man bathed in the sharp light but nodded. He sunk back into his chair, quietly following Zhuo’s silhouette with his eyes, contemplating.

Zhuo leaned forward on the stage so that the Lieutenant General could place the medal on the left side of his chest with ease. He disappeared in the dark as soon as he left the stage, and Qing Shui knew it was time to leave. They walked together to the test area that was specially assigned to Group Alpha.

Technically, Group Alpha wasn’t located in the main building. It was rather remote as it was built underground; the only entrance and exit being at the ground level of the institute. The door itself was almost unnoticeable except for there being two armed soldiers guarding it at all times. The security level was one of the highest in this institute as Zhuo needed to scan his retina and sign his name on a document that indicated the time he entered and exited; the document was kept with the two soldiers just in case the digital scanning record was lost during an external attack.

The equipment in Group Alpha was far more advanced than anywhere else that Qing Shui had been to. They had the best machines gathered for their transgene experiments, and the working area was sophisticatedly designed for better efficiency. It was a completely different world.

Qing Shui wasn’t won over by the equipment as he had expected that Group Alpha should have access to the top resources. However, Qing Shui was intrigued by rats that were floating in tiny tanks, aligned neatly one by one on a shelf mounted on the wall. They were placed so closely that it gave an illusion of the whole wall being decorated by these tiny yellow tanks. The concrete was simply nowhere to be seen.

Observing from a close distance, Qing Shui immediately discovered from where this strange feeling was coming from—rats. They were in shapes and forms that Qing Shui could have never thought to see them in. One donned pangolin’s armor, another had beefy limbs, while some others were skinny but with absurd bone structure, or even had wings. They were unconventional rats, and each different from the others. The surreality dizzied Qing Shui for a while.

“These are what you made with your proud transgene technique?” Qing Shui’s finger lingered on one of the tiny tanks.

“They are merely my experimental byproduct, believe it or not.” Zhuo was gratified by the astonishment on Qing Shui’s face. “How marvellous they are! Thanks to the red fog concentrate, we could introduce the desired gene pieces from other species into the rats free of rejection! Don’t you think this was how god made us?”

“I believe the way he made us wasn’t as inferior as you made them,” Qing Shui responded with a sneer.

“Well, it might seem primitive to you, after all, we only started a month or so ago.” It sounded like Zhuo didn’t hear any of Qing Shui’s comments, he dawdled around his ‘artworks’. “Look at all these man-made creatures, how beautiful and strong they are! They’ll be able to outcompete other species if I released them out.”

“I simply don’t think so.” The yellow tint reflected on Qing Shui’s face as he looked closely at a rat’s body. He asked, “These transgene creatures… I doubt they reproduce, do they?”

“You brought up an interesting problem that I have not yet been able to solve.” Qing Shui’s question pointed at the weakest spot in Zhuo’s research. He threw his hands and grinned wryly. “As I said, we’ve just started. If you would join us, I believe such issues could be resolved soon.

“Oh right! I don’t think I have mentioned that those rats were produced in my early experimenting stage. Come, I’ll show you what I really am capable of making, and I am the only person who’s made it. This is real art!” As Zhuo spoke, he opened a side door. “This way.”

Fanaticism and ecstasy were clearly written on Zhuo’s face. He couldn’t resist showing off his creation to someone who he thought deserved to see his work.

Led by curiosity, Qing Shui walked into the room whose door silently sealed behind once he entered.

It was spacious.

Instead of a room, Qing Shui would have called it an experimental field. Although it was constructed underground, it seemed broader than outside, now that it was limited by the red fog. The place was half as big as a soccer field, and human-sized glass containers were neatly aligned on both sides of the room. They were filled with some red sticky solution, which was as condense as the red fog concentrate.

The room lit up progressively as they went further, the light revealing the contents in the containers—humans. Of all sorts. Men, women, children, infants, even elders!

“Human subject research? You are conducting your experiments on humans?” Qing Shui asked in disbelief, his shock so great that his mind went blank for a second.

“You should calm down, Qing Shui. They are not dead.” Zhuo walked to one side, and knocked on a glass container.

Upon knocking, the human in the container moved reflexively, without conscious thought, then soon relaxed again.

“See, they’re alive.” Zhuo smirked.

“But that doesn’t disguise the fact that you are doing human subject research.” Qing Shui kept frowning.

“Well, what if I tell you that they volunteered for my experiments?” Zhuo shrugged his shoulders. “At the very beginning of the apocalypse, many died because of their weakened immune system. If they hadn’t turned to me, they’d be dead bodies rotting somewhere on the street like stray dogs. I gave them a second life; no reason for me to take your criticism.”

“I am not trying to criticize you, nor am I willing to debate with you about ethics. We are different kind of people, that’s it,” Qing Shui said, almost vententing out his anger but barely holding onto it. “And that’s all, isn’t it?”

“Surprise! Seems like you’re always underestimating me. I am so disappointed, Qing Shui. Let me feed you with some real stuff.” Zhuo almost rushed to the end of the room, where there was a button beside a container. Zhuo pressed it with his hand shaking due to excitement.

Soon, the cord that was connected with this person’s brain delivered an electric impulse to the inside. The person slowly regained his consciousness.

“Wake up! Wake up! Your moment has come!” Zhuo yelled delightfully as the person opened his eyes.

The person moved in the tank as if he was trying to warm up his body.

“Get out of the tank, you dumbass! I do not tolerate mistakes.” Zhuo climbed up the stairs and rudely dragged the person out of his tank.

The person lied on the ground on his stomach while Zhuo asked Qing Shui to stay tolerant.

“You have to be patient, he is quite weak at this moment. But that is because he was just woken up and needs some time to recoordinate. You will be the first person besides me to witness the power of this creature!” Zhuo even kicked the person, laughing. “And don’t worry, he won’t harm us. He is flawless. This is the prototype of the super soldier I plan to put under mass production. The excess extract from the red fog I dosed him in has made him completely subservient.

“Now, he will only listen to me.” Zhuo recovered from the fanatic stage. He said, “ In five minutes, he’ll surprise you.”

“I am surprised already.” Qing Shui approached the person cautiously. “Is he still a human? He is hairless and extremely pale, covered by hardened keratin scales like those pangolins have… this is what you have made...”

“He is good, isn’t he? The gene expression on him perfectly reflects what I inserted in his genome. Powerful physical strength, hard shell for defense and exceptional vision. A man like this is more useful than an armed troop if you place him in the jungle.”

Meanwhile, the person slowly recovered. He stretched out on the floor, then stood up.

“See, he is here. Interesting, he recovers faster than I’ve seen him do before.” Zhuo was so excited that he shouted out his joy, his hand examining the joints and the person’s wrinkled skin. The pupil test indicated that the person was fully functional. “Good to go!”

Zhuo then ran to the other side of the experimental field, where he took out a rifle from a cabinet.

“This is what I use to test.” Zhuo pointed the rifle at the pale man. “Hold your breath, I am showing you how much impact he can take with those beautiful scales.”